The Retreat
by Dammi forza
Summary: Oneshot: A family is escaping from the Trojan war. This is an assignment I did for my English class.


**(AN: I did not own the Iliad or Troy the movie, I just own my little family. This is an assignment I did for my English class, and I hope you enjoy.)**

**The Retreat**

The war horse was magnificent, standing tall and proud, a fine example of our Trojan army. King Priam, one of the best leaders we have had, according to my father, told us it was a gift from the Gods. Until now, I agreed with him. What a fool he was, to tell us it was a gift. More like a burden, a gift from Hades perhaps. Why would the Gods punish us so? It was not our choice to go to war, nor was it our choice to accept this gift, this malevolent being.

The sound of the war was behind us, the clashes of the swords, and the bangs of shields meeting each other. The loudest sound was the thumping of my heart, the sound of the blood rushing through my veins, and the sound of our heavy footfalls as we ran through the castle, trying to find an exit.

We were all frightened of what might happen if we were caught. Would we be slaughtered, like the rest of our people? Would we be war prizes, being brought back as nothing more than slaves, servants, whores? Just that thought brought me to run faster, pushing my brothers and my father to go faster. Our father was ill, so my elder brother, Alec, was carrying him on his shoulders, while I was pulling on my little brother's, Hector's, hand, to try to get him to keep up with us. We couldn't afford to lose any family members, not after we lost our house, our friends, our lives. We'd have to start over, where I don't know, but we just have to worry about making it out of the burning city-state alive.

I could hear my father praying to any God that would listen, though I don't know what that would help. They didn't help earlier, they wouldn't help now, but who was I to deter his belief. Maybe it's my fault the Gods didn't help. Was it because I didn't pray to them, that I didn't give them sacrifices? As these thoughts beat around in my head, I felt a small tug on my hand.

"Niobe, where are we going?" His timid and scared voice asked. He was breathing hard from overexerting himself.

"I don't know Hector." I told him, looking into his baby blue eyes as I turned to look at him for a moment, "But we need to keep going." I tugged on his arm a little bit harder to get him to run faster and felt him stumble before he caught his footing and tried to keep up. He kept tripping, so I picked him up, and ran faster in order to catch up to the rest of my family.

The tunnel we turned into was dark and damp. I grabbed onto Alec's arm in order not to lose him and father. It was quiet in here, away from the raging war outside the walls. After what seemed like an eternity, we found the end of the tunnel. The light was blinding as we stepped out into the open air. We quickly made way for any hiding spot we could find, which happened to be in an empty cave in the forest surrounding the west side of our old kingdom.

"We will set up camp here." Alec told us, "We need to rest, father needs to rest." He started a small fire to keep us warm from branches and leaves found lying outside the cave. Hector curled up beside me, as I laid down against the edge of the cave away from the entrance way.

"Niobe," Hector whispered, "Where are we going to go?" He asked the same question as earlier. I sighed and looked down at him. How am I supposed to tell him that we have nowhere to go, that we are the only people left of our wonderful city? What do you tell a small boy of five years that we have no home, which we have nothing to go to, nothing left for us in Troy?

I closed my eyes, and pulled him closer into my embrace. "I'm not sure Hector." I whispered. "But for now, we should just be happy that we are alive, together, and unharmed."

"Do you know where we are going Alec?" Hector asked, just loud enough for Alec to hear his question.

"I don't know Hector." Alec replied. I saw him look around and check on everybody, making sure we were all unharmed. "Right now we just need to sleep. We will decide when we are all well rested."

"But I'm hungry and cold. I want our home." He whined, his eyes starting to water.

"Hector, listen to me." I told him, "We will get a home again, but right now, just be thankful that we are still here. Many of our friends, of your friends lost their family, their mother and father, or their lives. Family is the most important thing right now, okay? Do you understand?"

"Okay Niobe." He whispered, whipping away his fallen tears and the tears threatening to fall. He closed his eyes and leaned back into me. I kissed his head and turned to Alec. He was checking on father, who would cough every now and then, making sure he was well. I smiled slightly at the sight. We might have lost our home, but we have family. And family is what is most important. I closed my eyes and laid my head on my arm. I sniffed lightly, trying to get rid of my tears that threatened to fall. I couldn't be weak. Hector needed me. Father needed me. Alec needed me. We are family. All we have is each other now. With that last thought, I drifted off to sleep with one single tear escaping and falling to the dirt ground.


End file.
